Mar 23, 2010
My guest this week is Owen Barder, a visiting fellow
here at the Center for the Global Development and the director of
the AidInfo project at Development Initiatives, a UK-based
NGO. Owen's current work focuses on improving the transparency of
the international aid system—making it easier to know where and how
aid is being spent.
Owen explains that more easily available aid data would benefit a number of audiences. Researchers and policymakers need the data to study what aid interventions work best. Developed country taxpayers have a right to information on how government is spending their money. Developing country governments need information on donor spending in order to budget their own resources effectively. However, according to Owen, the most important audience for aid data are the citizens of developing countries-the intended beneficiaries of the spending.
Read a full summary on the Wonkcast site.